BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:301@researchweek.unc.edu DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251023T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251023T163000 DTSTAMP:20250925T153913Z URL:https://researchweek.unc.edu/events/postdoctoral-awards-for-research-e xcellence-pare-awards-ceremony/ SUMMARY:Postdoctoral Awards for Research Excellence (PARE) Awards Ceremony DESCRIPTION:The annual Postdoctoral Awards for Research Excellence (PARE) C eremony celebrates the outstanding achievements of postdoctoral scholars a t UNC-Chapel Hill. These awards honor postdocs who have demonstrated excep tional research accomplishments and creativity\, as well as meaningful con tributions to their academic discipline and the broader scientific communi ty.\n\nEach awardee is presented with a plaque in recognition of their acc omplishments. As part of the celebration\, recipients deliver engaging 10- minute talks highlighting their research fields\, showcasing the depth and impact of postdoctoral scholarship at Carolina.\n\n2025 PARE Winners\n\nM arta Overchuk\, Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC-Ch apel Hill and NC State \nResearch: In Imran Rizvi's lab\, Overchuk explor es photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer\, a non-invasive approach using l ight and light-activatable molecules to generate therapeutic reactive oxyg en species. Specifically\, she investigates how PDT can overcome chemother apy resistance to improve treatment efficacy and safety in preclinical mod els of ovarian cancer. A recent study by the lab reveals that PDT enhances chemotherapy by inducing a process resembling ferroptosis\, a distinct fo rm of cell death driven by lipid peroxidation\, thereby opening new avenue s for developing lipid-targeting PDT agents particularly effective against chemo-resistant cancers. \n\n\nJuhyun Ahn\, Department of Microbiology a nd Immunology\, School of Medicine \nResearch: In the lab of Janelle Arth ur\, Ahn’s research seeks to define mechanisms by which certain gut bact eria disrupt host-microbe interactions in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD ) and colorectal cancer. Her work has revealed a presumed microbial trigge r for intestinal fibrosis — a serious complication for many IBD patients that involves intestinal narrowing and blockages that require surgery. By further understanding this disease process and identifying microbial mark ers to facilitate early diagnosis\, researchers can create new ways to pre vent and treat intestinal fibrosis and improve the lives of people with IB D. \n\n\nJoaquin Douton\, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience\, Col lege of Arts and Sciences \nResearch: In the Regina Carelli lab\, Douton studies how addiction and negative emotions affect brain function and how these changes contribute to drug relapse. Using animal models\, he tracks changes in brain circuits occurring due to addiction and tests highly tran slational treatment strategies to reverse these effects and restore health y brain function. Douton’s goal is to turn these discoveries into therap ies that help people recover from substance use disorders. .\n\n\nChristo pher Genito\, Department of Biomedical Sciences\, School of Dentistry \nR esearch: In Lance Thurlow’s lab\, Genito studies how diabetes makes peop le more vulnerable to potentially life-threatening infections. A recent di scovery of the lab shows that diabetes promotes the development of antibio tic-resistant bacteria. Genito’s future work aims to understand how diab etes affects vaccine efficacy with the goal of protecting people with diab etes from acquiring preventable severe infections.\n\n\nJeanna Campbell\, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research \nResearch: Campbell's research explores the impact of income\, community resources\, and primar y health care services on cardiometabolic health outcomes\, such as obesit y and type 2 diabetes. She is passionate about community-tailored services that meet community members’ unique health needs and preferences. Curre ntly\, she assists in the implementation of a culturally tailored dietary intervention posited to reduce inflammation and cardiometabolic disease ri sk\, as well as an intervention linking rural community members with tailo red disease prevention resources.\n\n\nEric Hurwitz\, Department of Geneti cs\, School of Medicine \nResearch: In the Translational and Integrative Sciences Lab led by Melissa Haendel\, Hurwitz’s research harnesses big d ata from multiple sources\, including electronic health records\, passive data from consumer-grade wearable devices\, and self-reported patient outc omes to develop personalized strategies for early disease detection and en hanced patient monitoring. He uses advanced statistical and machine learni ng methods to improve traditional methods that may not generalize across p atient populations. Hurwitz’s goal is to combine data streams with perso nalized methods to promote a pro-active and preventative approach to human health for enhanced precision medicine efforts.  ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://researchweek.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/ 2025/09/003421_campus_scenes155-small.jpg CATEGORIES:Featured Event,In-person Event,Office of Postdoctoral Affairs LOCATION:Dey Hall\, Toy Lounge\, 200 South Rd\, Chapel Hill\, North Carolin a\, 27514\, United States X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=200 South Rd\, Chapel Hill\ , North Carolina\, 27514\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Dey Ha ll\, Toy Lounge:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250309T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR